Automobile barge



Jan. 5 1926. v 1,568,307

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P. F. AocELLA AUTOMCBILE BARGE Filed August 20 l 1924 Jan. 5 1926.

P. F. ACOCELLA AUTOMOBILE BARGE 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed August' 20 lll lll

`least one of which is gear propel the boat.

which are adapted to be engage Patented Jan. 5, 1926.

PAIENT l OFFICE.

UNITED STATES m l'. ACOUELLA, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

AUTQIOBILE BARGE.

Anuman med mgm ao, 1924. seria; No. mms.

and useful Automobile Barge, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to marine vessels and the object of the invention is to provide a boat or barge-on which an automoblle may be driven so that whenin place on the barge the motor of the-car may be utilized as the prime mover for lthe propeller ,ofthe boat. The invention may be emplo ed as a pleasure craft for the navigatlon in inland waters, but is of particular utilit as aferrying medium for the transportation of automobiles across streams, rivers or lakes.

In its preferre'd practical form, the barge of this invention' comprises a suitable hull which is preferably of batteau form provided with a suitable deck and of sullicent displacement to support the weight of an automobile. Mounted forrotation on axes extendi transversely of the barge and preferab y in a position to extend slightly above the deck are a pluralit of rollers, at-

by any suitable driving connections 4to one or more propellers normall submerged below the stern' of the boat. ese rollers are so placed that when a car is driven on to the boat, it may. be stopped in a positionwherein the rearY wheels of the car will rest upon the rollers, so that if the power unit ofthe car is operated to rotate the rear wheels thereof, the rotation of said rear wheels will be iniparted to the rollers and through the rotation thereof the ropeller is operated to uitable means 1s provided to normally reclude the car) from driving of of the ro 1ers thou h further means is provided to lock the ro ers against rotation when it is desired to drive the car from the boat in order'thatl suflicient traction may be `obtained to effect movement of the car.

A11 important feature of the invention resides in the'provision of steerin devices by the front wheels o the car when 1n position on the boat. These steering devices lhave suitable connection with a rudder so that through manipulation of the steering wheel of the car, as in the act of driving, the devices are operated to control the direction of movement of the boat. In pracwhereby automobile barge o plan view Yof the boat shown tice, the boat may be provided with a suitable canopyI or closure above decks, so. as to house the car yor cover the same during transportation. I may also associate with the boat a suitable gangplank or gangplanksl the car may readily board or leave.

the boat.

Features of the invention, other than those specified, will be apparent from the hereinafter detailed description when read in con- Vjunction with Vthe accompanying drawings and claim.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one practical embodiment of the invention, but the construction therein shown is to be understood as illustrative, only, and not as defining the limits of the invention.

Figure r`1- is a perspective view of the Y the present invention. Figure 2 is a in Figure l; an

Figures 3 and 4 aresections on the lines 3 3 and 4 4, respectively, of Figure 2. Referrin to the drawin s, 1 designates the hull o the boat whic may be constructed from any suitable material and of any appropriate shape or contour.' However for the purpose of illustration, vthe hull is oA batteau form and is `of suilicient size and displacement to adequately supportthe weight of 'an automobile. The boat is pro` vided with a deck 2 having an opening 3 Said roller is moreover mounte to freelyA vrotate on, the horizontal axis and is preferably ]ournalled in antifriction bearings so that the rotation may be as near frictionless aspossible.

The rollers 5 and 6 are shorter than the rollers 4 and are fixedly secured end to end on a common shaft 8, which is journalled at its opposite ends in standards 9 and 10. The shafts 7 and 8 are ositioned at such distance a art and the ro ers 4, 5 and 6 are of such diameter that when a car is driven on to the deck of the boat, the rear wheels of thecar may ride'upon and be supported bg' said rollers. When thecar is at rest on t e barge, the right rearlwheel will be su ported oonjointly and will bear upon e of the rolls 4, and 6, so that these rollers will rotate at' a .speed controlled by thecar operator.V In'order to preclude the car from inadvertently leaving the rollers, I

preferably anchor a chain 13 to an eyebolt with a hook adapted to be engaged with, thev `rear axle housing of the car to preclude 14n the deck, as shown in Figure 3, while the opposite end of the chain is provided forward movement of such car so `longlas the hook is associated therewith.

Fixed te the shaft8 is,a gear 15 which .meshes with the gear 16 ixed'on the counter shaft 17. rlhis counter shaft 1'?l also carries azbevel gear 18 meshing'with a bevel ear `the car will furnish power to 19 lixed, in turn, upon the propeller s aft 20. As shown in Figure 3, the propeller 21 has a direct connection through the propeller shaft with the gear 19, but in ractice, the barge maybe made twin screw if) desired in, a manner which willbe apparent to nautical engineers.

When the parts are assembled as described, the operation of the power unit of rive the propeller and the Aspeed of o eration of the propeller maytbe controlle by the car operator iny regulating the speed of his motor.

`When the boat has. reached its distance and it is desired todrive the car from the boat` the hook associated with the cha-in 13 is released from the axle andra dog 22,l shown best, in Figure 3, is brought into cooperation with the gear 15 to lock the rollers 5 and 6 against rotation. The car may be thereupon ,driven of?l the boat. An'important feature oi" the invention resides in the novel manner of steering the boat and this is accomplished l by means of steering devices 23 and 24, with which the front wheels are adapted to cooperate while the rear wheels are in co- 'operative relation with the rollers 4, 5 and 6. Each of thesesteering devices is in the form of a small turntable 25 mounted in the deck of the boat for rotation on a vertical spindle 26. Each turntable hasat its opposite sides Aupstanding flanges" 27 spaced apart the width of the tire and these turntables are a distanceapart equal to the distance apart 'of the front wheels of the car,

so that thea-wheels` when the car is at rest on the barge. will seat within and be supported by the turntablesas best shown in Figure 1.

To the lower lend of each of the spindles 26 is secured a bell crank 28. Two arms of these 1bell cranks are tied together b a link 29, while the other arms of the bel cranks are attachedtc rudder lines 30. These rudder lines lead aft and after passing around sheaves 31 pass to the rudder yoke 32 with which the rudder 33 is associated. The boat is steered by simply turning the steering wheel of the car, as in the act of driving, this o` erationbeing effective to rotate the turnta les which, in turn, actuate the rudder lines to shift the rudder 33.

The boat may be provided with suitable gangplanks fore and aft of which the forward gangplank is shown for the purpose of illustration. Any suitable construction may be employed in this connection, -but in `the particular form shown, a push rod 34 isy secured to the outer end of the gangplank 35 and is bent @to extend along the opposite sides of the boat and thence upwardly andl inwardly lto provide handles 36 whereby the gangplank may be pushed outwardly to enage-with the dock or landing or withdrawn into the position shown in Figure 1. The rod 34' is guided as shown at 37 for vsliding movement, so as to support the weight of the angplank when in projected position. The

oat is also shown as provided with railings '38 extending along the sides thereof and 9 similar railings or chains may extend across the front and back of the boat. Stanchions of the railings 38 may be made to extend upwardly an appreciable distance and carry a suitable awning or canopy or the boat may be provided with a suitable canopy or cover to completely house the car if so desired.

flhe boat may, if desired, be made sufficiently large to carry more than one car so that one car-will serve to propel the boat while additional cars are transported, while the power units thereof remain idle er the driving rollers mav be duplicated for additional cars land all geared to the common propeller shaft.` 4

The boat of this invention may be used /purelv as a pleasure craft but isparticularly usefulin ferry service for the purpose of transporting cars across bodies of water, suchas rivers, lakesfor streams.

The accompanying drawings. show the invention in' its preferred form, but it is to be understood as fully commensurate with the appended claim.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A boat embodying a hull havinga deck, a portion of which is cut away. shafts extendlng transversely of the boat belowthe deck and carrying rollers adapted to occupy the cut out portion of the deck and to collectively formY a support for the rear wheels of a car, whereby rotation may be imparted to the rollers through operation of the rear lllV wheels, a propeller, a shaft on which the of each bell-crank to the corresponding arm, 10 propeller is mounted,' and gearingforcona rudder at the rear of the boat, and cables necting the propeller shaft. to at leastt `one for securin the free arms of said bell cranks of the transverse shafts in combination -to the rud er to permit steering of the'boat with 'a pair of turntables `adapted to vinfrom the steering wheel'of the car.

dividually engage and support the front In testimony whereof I have'signed the 15 wheels of the car and mounted for rota foregoing specification. tion on' vertical spindles, a bell-.crank on,`

each spindle, a tie rod connectingone" arm PHILP F. AGOCELLA, 

